


Wax Wings

by ButYouCanCallMeCat



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Angst, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-28
Updated: 2012-05-28
Packaged: 2017-11-06 03:41:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/414320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ButYouCanCallMeCat/pseuds/ButYouCanCallMeCat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everything falls apart.</p>
<p>Trigger warnings for blood and suicidal intent.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wax Wings

**Author's Note:**

> I didn't know what this was going to turn into when I started. I apologise, as this was written without a beta, and so may not entirely make sense.

**The capital of Minnesota is Saint Paul.**

It was math and anagrams and Ovid’s  _Metamorphoses_. The unsub was toying with them, mocking every member of the team in turn. It was an intricate jigsaw, but Reid nearly had it solved.

_The sun on his back, his face._

There was certainly enough to indicate a location when combined with the geographic profile.

_Twice he beat his arms._

Morgan was closest, though he was on his own. It didn’t matter, they had a location.

_Closer to that great celestial body, closer to that life-giving heat._

He had done it. Still a genius. __

_He laughed._

Spencer rearranged the papers, trying to translate those last numbers.

_A drop of wax fell to the sea. He didn’t notice._

**It is believed by some that the Number of the Beast is in fact 616.**

No.

_He noticed the feathers falling._

It was a trap.

_They fell in clumps, plummeting towards the waves._

Spencer was at the SUV by the time Hotch picked up. “Morgan in trouble.” He managed to convey the address despite the sudden lack of oxygen. The phone must have shut with a snap, but Spencer couldn’t hear it.

_Was it even possible to stumble while flying?_

He was there first. Derek stared at the sky with blank eyes, a dark pool spreading around his body.

**The human body contains approximately 6 quarts of blood.**

More than that was on his hands. There had to be more than that on his hands. He tried, desperately, to stem the flow of blood.

**Blood is necessary to supply oxygen to body tissues.**

It was nearly a lake, surely.

**It is the combination of oxygen and hemoglobin that makes blood red.**

There were tears mixing with the blood.

**The Hittite word for blood shares an origin with the word for oath.**

He couldn’t feel a pulse. He had to try CPR.

**The survival rate after correct bystander CPR is 16%.**

He pressed against Morgan’s chest again and again.

**That number is calculated from cardiac arrests.**

The paramedics were pulling him away. The only words he heard were “time of death”.

_He tried moving away from the sun, as if that would fix things._

He was a pallbearer.

_As if there was anything left to be fixed._

Somehow he avoided Morgan’s family, even at the funeral.

_The feathers were nearly gone from his arms._

The unsub disappeared.

_He was falling._

He handed in his resignation. No one argued. No one could meet his eyes. When they did look at him, their eyes seemed to brand him murderer.

_Falling._

Every time he managed to sleep, he woke with the feeling blood on his hands. He knew how Lady Macbeth felt. Many a night was spent scrubbing at his fingers until they were bleeding themselves.

**Hydromorphone – brand name Dilaudid – is an analgesic drug of the opioid class.**

He tried to fend off his addiction, for Derek’s sake. This isn’t what he would have wanted.

_The water slammed into him like it was a stone wall._

What did it matter what Derek wanted. He was dead, and it was Spencer’s fault.

_Water rushed past him, cold and fast._

The Dilaudid should have killed the pain, but it barely took the edge off. He needed more.

_He opened his eyes under water. The light was quickly disappearing._

There was never enough to stop the guilt.

_If there was air left in his lungs, he would have said goodbye to that beautiful sun._

It was time for more drastic measures. He clutched the one year badge in his fist.

_The world went black._

**The human body contains approximately 6 quarts of blood.**


End file.
